Auburn University’s men’s swimming and diving team began the 2026 NCAA Championships on Mar. 25 by setting a new school record in the 800 freestyle relay at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
The opening day saw Auburn score points in both the 200 medley relay and the 800 free relay, placing them twelfth overall with a total of 22 points. Head coach Ryan Wochomurka said after two events that his team was positioned well for the remainder of the competition.
In the first event, Kalle Makinen, Uros Zivanovic, Sohib Khaled, and Warner Russ finished twelfth in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:22.37—just one hundredth of a second shy of breaking their own school record. Shortly afterward, Abdalla Nasr, Daniel Krichevsky, Warner Russ, and Luke Bedsole set a new Auburn program record with a time of 6:10.77 in the 800 free relay to secure eleventh place.
Russ contributed significantly to both relays with an impressive final split of 18.87 seconds in the medley before swimming another strong leg (1:33.12) during his portion of the freestyle event. Nasr’s leadoff swim clocked at 1:33.35 made him Auburn’s eighth-fastest performer ever in that discipline.
Krichevsky delivered an especially fast split (1:31.64), helping Auburn finish ahead of several prominent programs including California, Southern California (USC), Pittsburgh (Pitt), Southern Methodist University (SMU), Tennessee, Georgia, Florida State University (FSU), Florida, Louisville, Notre Dame and Yale during Wednesday morning’s session.
Competition continues Thursday with events such as the 100 butterfly, 400 individual medley (IM), and others starting at nine o’clock Central Time; coverage is available on ESPN Plus and Meet Mobile.
